Photograph
by Onc3l8rWagon
Summary: An Audler oneshot, just because this pairing needs more love. AU, for obvious reasons. The Once-Ler discovers an incredibly embarrassing picture of Audrey as a baby, and isn't about to let her live it down. Luckily, Audrey has a few tricks up her sleeve, as well. Adorkableness ensues. I hope you enjoy!


**Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, not making any money off 'em. Just having fun here. Characters are property of Dr. Seuss and Illumination Entertainment. Thanks, and hope you enjoy the fic! Reviews are very much appreciated!**

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"Once-Ler, I'm home!" called Audrey as she edged through the doorway of the little cottage that they now shared.

"Oh, hey, darlin'," came her fiancé's voice from the back room of the tent, where he was, as usual, busying himself with plans for the brand-new factory. It had been practically the only thing he'd been able to talk about for the past month, ever since his thneed empire had begun to skyrocket to fame. "How was the store?"

She wrestled with the grocery bags stacked haphazardly in her arms, all but stumbling into the kitchen. "I-it was good. Real good, honey. But if you'd be so kind as to, agh . . . help me with all these bags?"

"Oh. Oh, right. Coming!"

At once, there was a loud clattering sound; Audrey could hear all sorts of pencils and pens rolling to the ground as her future husband jumped up, the sound of flapping papers following him as he rushed away from his work. That was a flattering thought, she had to admit - the idea that even though not much else could distract him from his precious work, he always seemed to put aside time for his bride-to-be.

Despite being a no-nonsense, smooth-talking businessman, he really was quite sweet to her. The Once-Ler had become quite popular ever since that fateful day when the crowd had all but stampeded through the Truffula Valley, and his business was biggering by the day. Audrey had been almost certain when he'd first gotten popular that he would eventually forget about her, and had worried almost endlessly that one day he might not need her anymore; but it was moments like these, when it was just the two of them, that made her relax those thoughts for just a little while. It was like the rest of the world got thneeds and she got the vulnerability, the sides to his personality that he wouldn't dare show anyone else in the world.

Once-Ler met her in the kitchen, his long legs closing the gap between them in three strides. Greeting her with his usual sunny smile, he leaned down and pressed a light, gentle kiss to her forehead, snatching the bags right up from her hands and setting them down on the kitchen countertop. Audrey grinned, unable to help it as her cheeks flooded with color. They'd been in a serious relationship for a while now, but he still knew better than anyone how to make her blush like a schoolgirl.

"Thanks for going shopping for us, oh beautiful amazing wonderful light of my life," he said, reaching out to playfully ruffle her hair.

Audrey giggled, but raised her eyebrows questioningly. He was certainly . . . chipper today. It wasn't unusual for him to dole out affection to her like this, but the man was an open book, really now. She knew by just looking at him that something was up - or, rather, _he _was up to something. But what, exactly? She wondered what had been going on around here while she was off at the supermarket.

"You're welcome," she laughed, lightly swatting his hands away from her hair before swooping in and landing a kiss against his lips in return. "But I have to admit, the way you're acting right now makes me wonder if there's anything I need to be concerned about." She gave him a little smirk, her eyes glinting with the playful hint of a challenge. "You know you can't hide stuff from _me_." She nudged him gently in the rib cage with her elbow, and he flinched, unfailingly ticklish there.

"What, can't a guy just lavish on his future _wife _every now and then?" he responded, ever the tease. He knew that he'd caught Audrey's attention, and loved being able to hold that over her head, just a teeny bit. "Or is that only allowed on holidays now or something?"

It wasn't that he enjoyed being cruel to her, it was just that he very rarely got the upper hand against Audrey in anything. She was always the more forward one in their relationship, and he sometimes (though he would never admit to it out loud) considered her the more intelligent of their duo, too. So he liked being able to use what he had to the best of his abilities. And Audrey never really took offense to it; in fact, she found it rather amusing that he thought he could keep anything from her, and she loved playing along.

"Only on bank holidays," she replied with a cheeky grin, breaking into giggles when she saw the deadpan look on his face. Reaching out and clasping his hands with hers, she leaned in and eagerly said, "Now, come on! Tell me what's up. And don't tell me that you're not up to something, 'cause you've got that look on your face. I can practically see the gears turning in your head."

The devious smile on Once-Ler's face only widened at her words, his eyes glinting with humor and mischief. _Oh, great, _Audrey thought. _That can't be good_. He gave her hands a tight, affectionate squeeze before smugly folding his arms across his chest.

"As it sooooo happens," he said, "I found something today when I was looking through all our old files and stuff. Y'know, the ones we keep in those boxes under the bed. I was looking for some financial records and stuff, but I juuuust happened to find something much better."

Audrey arched her eyebrows again. She definitely didn't like the tone his voice was beginning to take on. "And what would that be?" she asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Well, if you wanna see so bad, then what're we doing hanging around in here?" he cried, laughing a little, himself. Taking her hand and lacing his long, slim fingers through hers, he gave her arm a gentle tug and urged, "C'mon! You're gonna love it, I promise!"

Somehow, Audrey was beginning to be a little bit doubtful of that much. But she followed the man anyway, unable to fight the smile on her face as he led her to the backroom, where he had set up a little office of sorts for himself. Sunlight spilled into the room, dust mites sparkling in the light as they floated amicably through the air. There was a drafting table and a swivel seat pushed up close to the wide, open window at the far end of the room. All sorts of papers and thick books were stacked up on the table, and blueprints were scattered all along the floor around the desk, as well. Beside the drafting table, there was a trash bin, filled with balled-up, crumpled old blueprints - rejected ideas of his, she supposed.

Right off the bat, Audrey didn't really notice anything unusual. His office was almost always in complete disarray. She knew he had his heart set on getting a bigger office for himself once the new factory was built, but she really couldn't see him being able to keep that one neat and tidy, either. She glanced to the Once-Ler, admittedly a little bit confused. What had he wanted to show her, exactly? Was she overlooking something big and important that was really right in front of her eyes?

"Uhh . . . Once? What exactly am I looking at here?" she asked, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. When she glanced over to her side, however, she realized that he had already moved and was rummaging through the papers at his desk.

He didn't answer her for a while, so she stood in the doorway, arms folded neatly across her chest. She had to admit, she was getting a little bit restless. The Once-Ler never kept secrets without good reason; and she _did _like surprises. Her imagination was already churning, trying to figure out just what this little mystery of his could possibly be.

At last, he seemed to find whatever it was he was looking for. It was a photograph of something, though from this angle, Audrey couldn't tell exactly what it was. She narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to get a better look at the photo that he held in his hands, tucking her red hair behind her ear.

"Ah-_ha_!" he cried triumphantly, straightening up so fast that he bumped his head on the low-hanging ceiling light. His expression of excitement and happiness was quickly replaced by a grimace, his free hand going up to rub the top of his scalp. "Ow! Geez!" he howled, his theatrics making Audrey almost want to laugh. She bit the inside of her lip, trying to spare his feelings.

She cleared her throat, gesturing to the photograph in his hand. "What's that?" she asked, edging a little bit farther into the room. "A picture, I can tell, but . . . of what?"

At her question, the Once-Ler quickly recovered, that same mischievous grin returning to his features. His blue eyes danced in the light, and Audrey couldn't help but smile to herself, as well. She'd always thought that he had the most wonderful eyes in the world. It took her a moment to realize that he was holding up the picture for her to view, as well, and the smile on his face was slowly turning a little bit smug. Audrey's eyes settled onto the photo . . .

. . . and she immediately groaned.

The picture was a baby photo of Audrey, and it was beyond embarrassing. When she had originally moved in with the Once-Ler about a year ago, she'd brought with her a box of old photos and memories from her old house; she'd never thought that her fiancé would one day go pilfering through all of them. How many other photos of her childhood had he seen? The ones from fifth grade, when she'd had a haircut that somewhat resembled a salad bowl? She blushed darkly, absolutely mortified.

This picture in particular was no prize, either. It was from when Audrey was at least two years old, and had gotten a set of finger paints for Christmas from her aunt. She could only imagine how her parents must have felt about _that_. In the photo, Audrey was wearing a fluffy white dress, but it front of the dress was _covered_ in finger paints; and the dress wasn't even the worst part. Her hands, her pudgy little arms, her face . . . it looked like a bunch of paint cans had exploded on her baby self. There was even a little bit of yellow paint in her wispy red hair.

And, of course, her future husband just had to see _that_ picture in particular. Great.

"Once-Ler!" she cried indignantly. "Baby pictures? Really, am I _ever_ gonna be able to trust you when I leave you in this house alone?"

She made a grab for the photo, hoping to catch him off-guard, but this was one of those times when he chose to use his height to his advantage. He raised his arm out of her reach, the smile on his face only widening.

"Hey, hey, relax," he said, holding his hands up complacently at his chest. He laughed a little, looking sheepish, and added on quickly, "If it makes you feel any better, I, uh . . . miiiight've found one of myself, too." He shrugged a little, then leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Besides, you were adorable!" Holding up the picture so that they both could look, he said, "How can you not see how cute this is?"

"Well . . . alright, fine," Audrey conceded, sighing a little. Unable to help the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, she decided, "But _only _if I get to see one of you, too, okay?" She smirked up at him, but quickly started giggling when she caught sight of the look on his face.

The Once-Ler sighed, though the good-natured smile still remained on his face. "Yeah, okay," he responded, waving his hand artlessly. "Buuuuut first . . . " he held up the picture of Baby Audrey, his eyes alight with joy. "D'aww, Audrey, look at you! How come you never told me about this before?"

Audrey rested her hands on her hips. "Because I reeeeally didn't want you to _see_ it, obviously," she explained, blushing.

But she had to admit, seeing how sincere he was about his admiration of her, it did warm her heart a little bit. She watched him as he gazed down at the photo, so much love in his eyes, and was reminded of why she'd decided to move in with him in the first place. Even when she was at her absolute worst, he still looked at her like she was the most beautiful girl in the world. He could have his choice of any girl, and yet he still wanted her. He _loved_ her. Finger-paint baby photos and all.

"You really do think I'm beautiful, don't you?" Audrey observed quietly, almost to herself, her eyes widening with silent awe. Clearing her throat, she said loudly enough for him to hear her, "Once-Ler. As obnoxious as you are being right now, I'm so in love with you it's a little ridiculous."

He looked up from the picture, raising his eyebrows a little, almost as if her words surprised him. His cheeks turned pink; even the freckles on the bridge of his nose and on his cheeks turned cinammon red. They'd said 'I love you' to each other before, but Audrey couldn't help but notice that every time she said it to him, he always looked mildly stunned, like he almost couldn't comprehend the meaning behind the words themselves. (Audrey supposed she had his mother to thank for that much.)

"I love you," he announced after the silence between them had persisted for a little while. The way he said it, the words were so simple, but full of meaning. Setting the photo down on the desk, he gave her a lopsided, boyish grin and repeated, this time more excitement in his voice, "I love you, Audrey, y'know that?" He pressed his forehead to hers, grinning all the while. "Even if I am being obnoxious."

Audrey giggled, resting her hands on his chest. "Sorry. I guess I'm just not used to anyone looking through my baby photos with such . . . enthusiasm."

The Once-Ler gave a low laugh in return, smiling contentedly as Audrey ran her fingers through his soft bangs. "Well, can I _help_ it? I mean, you _were_ pretty much the cutest baby ever!" He gave her an affectionate kiss, right on the lips, and then a kiss on the tip of the nose.

"Thanks, I think," she replied, her tone of voice light and joking. "I'll be the judge of that, though. Remember? We've still gotta look at yours, too," she reminded him, poking him gently on the nose.

The Once-Ler grimaced painfully. "Aahh, man," he mumbled, his grin returning as its own rueful ghost. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going. I'm warning you, though - it's not pretty." He laughed a little, despite himself, and kissed her forehead once again before moving away to retrieve the other photo.

"Whatever you say," said Audrey. "Personally, I'm looking forward to this." Her tone was lightly teasing and playful, as was typical for a good deal of their interactions anyway.

The Once-Ler snorted. "Riiight, right," he answered, the papers ruffling as he leafed through file after file that sat atop that desk. At last, he retrieved another photo - from what Audrey could see in the brief flash that he held it up, it appeared to be a very early school picture. "Ah! Here we go. Found it!" The excitement in his voice was tinged with sarcasm, and Audrey couldn't help but smirk a little bit in return.

"Ohooookaaay, hand it over, mister," she said, holding out her hand expectantly.

Oncie complied, giving her the photo with a flourish of his wrist. Now that the tables had been turned, of course, he didn't seem so happy about the whole situation. His face reddened and he watched her carefully, trying his best to gauge her reaction. Audrey took the photo in her hands, the grin on her face only widening as she took it all in.

The photo was most definitely a school picture, from maybe first or second grade. The Once-Ler, in all his scrawny glory, was staring up at her from the picture with his big blue eyes and a gap-toothed smile. His hair was a little lighter than it was now, and scruffy as usual, although most of it was hiding beneath a familiar gray fedora. (In this particular photograph, though, the fedora was much too big for his head.)

"Oh my gosh!" Gleeful, she turned to the Once-Ler and giggled, "You had the cutest smile ever! Oh, wait . . . " she ducked in and landed a tiny kiss on the lips, just to cheer him up a little, "you still do!"

"Yeah, yeah, laaaaaugh it up," the Once-Ler grumbled, trying to look displeased, although his youth failed him. Audrey knew him better than anyone else, and could tell when he was genuinely angry. He was just flustered and a little embarrassed, but she could see in his eyes that he was being a good sport about the whole thing. Sure enough, a little smile tugged its way onto his face and he sighed in defeat, adding, "I guess it's only fair. Now who's the one being obnoxious?" He quirked his eyebrow, amused by this.

Audrey blushed, but couldn't help the laugh that fell from her lips. "Oh, lighten up a little, Once-Ler," she told him, elbowing him lightly in the rib cage. He flinched slightly, but more out of surprise than anything else; Audrey was so tiny, she would never be able to actually cause him any physical harm. "Hey . . . now who would've ever thought that this little guy would be engaged to that baby girl one day, huh?" She looked up at him and grinned, holding the two photos next to each other. "Some days I still can't believe it, myself."

The Once-Ler walked up behind her, resting his chin lightly on the crown of her head. He glanced down at the photographs in her hands, raising his eyebrows thoughtfully. Winding his arms around her waist, he let out a soft, shaky little chuckle and nuzzled against her scalp, once again all smiles and affection despite himself.

"_You _can't believe it? I'm the lucky one," he murmured, just soft enough for it to sound like a secret, as if the words were only meant to pass between the two of them. The air between them almost tingled at the very idea. The goofy smile on his face never faded for an instant as he added, a bit more lightheartedly, "I mean, you _are_ preeeetty easy on the eyes." He gave her a playful little nudge.

"Oh, is that all? I'm just really pretty and that's the only reason you're interested?" Audrey responded, turning to face him, her hands on his chest. He could tell from her tone of voice that she was only joking, but there was a certain sincerity in her eyes that rang true to him, anyway. She slid her hands upward on his chest until they wound gently around his neck, and she leaned into him as she awaited his answer.

The Once-Ler gave another laugh, shaking his head a bit in disbelief. "Are you serious? Audrey!" As he said her name, he reeled her in closer, regarding her carefully before pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. "Audrey," he said again, a little more softly this time, "I-I think you're . . . I mean, you're . . . you're amazing. I love everything about you. Even when you snore _really _loud at night, 'cause, y'know, at least I know you're right there with me." He cleared his throat, pausing from his monologue only long enough to rub the back of his neck. "Uhh . . . " he sighed, "I bet that sounds stupid."

Howling with laughter, Audrey leaned forward and seized the Once-Ler in a tight embrace, nuzzling her head against his chest. "No!" she giggled. "Of course it doesn't sound stupid! I think that's adorable, actually."

"Y-you do?" For a moment, a dark blush spread across Oncie's cheeks and his eyes widened in an expression of genuine surprise and adoration. After the fleeting instant passed, however, he shook himself and allowed the smile to ease onto his face again, the humor back in his eyes as he tried to recover by saying, "I-I mean, yeah. Yeah, of course you do. Thaaaaat's why I said it." He straightened his posture and held his head high, looking quite proud of himself, almost amusingly so.

"Sure, sure, I _totally _buy that," Audrey laughed, smirking up at him. Still, she stood up on tiptoe and leaned in to give him a swift kiss on the cheek, anyway. "Thank you, though. You're so sweet to me, y'know that?"

Kissing her on the forehead in return, he grinned, thoroughly pleased with himself. "That's my job," said the Once-Ler, reaching out and affectionately ruffling her mane of soft, fluffy red hair. "And well, you're someone I care about more than anything, sooooo it kinda comes naturally, I guess." He gently tapped his foot against her shin, blushing as the two of them made eye contact. That same easy smile on his face biggering by the second, he said, "Hey, come on. I know I have a bunch of old photo albums and stuff layin' around here. We could look through some of those, if you want."

Audrey nodded; the Once-Ler's excitement was almost contagious. "That sounds great, Once-Ler. As long as you swear there's no more embarrassing ones of me in there," she added on, almost as an afterthought, arching her eyebrows.

Oncie held up his right hand, making his facial expression wide-eyed and innocent. (Of course, Audrey wasn't fooled by this for one second.) "Scout's honor," he promised, his tone of voice still light and playful as he gazed down at her. A moment later, he took her hand, kissing her knuckles quickly before they began the search for Once-Ler's old photo album.

As they bustled around the room, Audrey chuckled and said, "Oh, just so you know: _You _snore pretty badly, too, Once-Ler."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. But hey, how'm I supposed to know that?" he responded from where he was crouched on the floor, looking under his desk. "In case you haven't noticed, I sleep like a rock. Unlike a certain girl I know named Audrey who can't ever keep still when we're in bed."

"Funny . . . I thought that was one of the things you liked best about me!" Audrey exclaimed, purposefully allowing a flirtatious, more sensual note to enter her voice. She glanced over her shoulder and smirked at the Once-Ler, whose face only reddened that much more in response.

"_Audrey_!" Oncie cried, aghast and admittedly intrigued at the same time.

Audrey simply responded with her usual playfulness and a touch of sarcasm, "Well, I love you anyway, Once-Ler."

"Love you too," he called back, finally retrieving the photo album from under the desk. "Snoring and all."


End file.
